Ironic Truth
by Mrs. Pack
Summary: Set after the final battle with Ultimecia. A little duel between two feuding enemies uncovers a tangled web of lies and deceit.


All was silent in the darkened forest, save for the screeching of arguing Caterchipillars every now and then. The silver moonlight barely illuminated the shadowy area, but it was enough for the duel to still take place. I stood there, balancing my gunblade, the Lionheart, on my right shoulder. It had been almost ten minutes since he had challenged me to the duel.

I was still waiting on the blonde-haired havoc wreaker to show up.

Sighing in exasperation, I let my mind wander to thoughts of my one and only. To my beautiful angel with wings that always surrounded me in unconditional love. To the free-spirited woman that changed my life forever with her carefree ways.

To Rinoa Heartilly, my life.

The sound of a stick crunching under a boot brought me out of my daydreams of her. Glancing over to my left, I saw my rival standing there, his ever-presence smirk proudly covering his face.

"Miss me, Puberty Boy?"

"...Whatever."

"Whatever, whatever...it's ALWAYS whatever. Can't think of anything intelligent to say, Leonhart?"

Hyne, his remarks were starting to get on my nerves. Not like they normally didn't, but standing in the middle of a monster-infested forest at three in the morning wasn't my cup of tea. I wanted to get back inside the Garden, get a nice hot shower, and fall asleep in the arms of my love.

Not stand outside and waste time listening to Seifer ramble on and on.

"Don't tell me you've fallen asleep. I didn't walk all the way out here just to stand here and have you fall asleep before we even begin. I should've killed you, Leonhart. But, out of the kindness of my heart, I've decided to let you have a chance against me."

He chuckled conceitedly, and I wanted to choke him.

So, I did the next best thing.

I started to attack him.

Over and over again, I swung my gunblade at him, not even bothering where my blows landed. As long as he got hurt, I didn't care. He blocked most of my attacks, save one that caught him just above his left elbow.

"Nice one, Puberty Boy...I'd like to see something better, though. If I gotta stand here and take pathetic hits like that, I'll just go fight some Bite Bugs. They'll put up more of a fight."

Oh, that definitely wasn't something to say to me at the moment. Not only did that spark my anger, but it also caused a surge of adrenaline to rush through my veins, giving me more energy to beat the living crap out of him. I spun around, doing a 360 as the gunblade whipped around, its' tip reflecting a beam of light as it headed towards Seifer's right side.

He saw the anger rising in my eye. Apparently, he could also see that it clouded my judgement. Not a good thing, really. He easily blocked the swipe of my blade, and countered with one of his own. Not really expecting that, I jumped backwards, spun my blade to the side, and charged.

"You would think that you would have learned, Squall. Don't you remember what happened the last time you did that?"

I could see that devilish grin on his face. Great Hyne, it made me want to puke. However, I did remember the last time I charged like that, and I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. If I saw him start to use his Limit Break, I was gonna move. Simple as that. Besides, hesitating was my mistake last time. It's what caused me to get the condemned scar on my forehead.

Then again, he had a matching one.

Shaking my head, I smirked as well as I rushed forward still. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed his palm at me. A searing fireball formed there, and I knew what he was going to do. Snorting softly, I stopped running. He faltered for a moment, looking at me in suprise, then regained his composure as his trademark smirk reappeared on his face. The fireball shot forward, illuminating the forest with a red glare.

I raised my blade high into the air and brought it down against the fireball when it reached me. Midway, I pulled the trigger on my gunblade. The explosion of the gunblade was too much for the fireball and it disappeared as quickly as it had come. With a smirk, I started running once more.

Seifer stood there, stunned, as if he couldn't believe that I had evaded his attack.

_Well, so much for that strategy, eh, Seifer? Ah, now, don't look so shocked. I mean, it's not like you didn't expect it or anything. Yeah, that's right. Oh, you'd better get prepared. This gunblade's gonna come at you much faster than it did before._

For some reason, the smirk stuck on my face like glue. I couldn't shake it. Then again, it was only appropriate. I was winning. Instead of lifting my gunblade high, I pulled it backwards. I didn't want to slash him. I wanted to run him through. As I came closer to him, a primal yell began to form in my throat as I prepared to strike him dead.

Seifer just smiled.

I bet he knew I'd beaten him. I bet he was wondering, 'How? Why? What went wrong? All of my life I trained for this moment. All of the hardships, all of my endeavors; all for this, and to lose. To be beaten. To fight Squall was one of my dreams. A dream, turned into a nightmare. It's over. I've lost.'

That's when I stopped.

A sharp pain emanated from my side as I fell to the ground. I reached a hand down to my ribcage and felt something warm.

Blood.

Then, a voice echoed from within the trees.

"The Forest Owls strike again."

No...no, it couldn't be! I knew that voice so well...it just couldn't be! The same sweet voice that had spoken promises of love and a happy future...it was now a voice tainted with hatred and deceit!

I heard footsteps...softly at first, then louder as they came closer to me. I opened my half-closed eyes to look up into a beautiful face.

"Tsk, tsk...now I'll have to get my hands all bloody. What a pity...and you were so nice, Squall."

I felt someone pulling at the gunblade I still held onto. No, no... don't hurt me with that. Why, Rinoa...why? Why are you doing this? I couldn't open my mouth to speak. I could only watch in silence as my one true love took the gunblade from my hand and stared at it. Turning my head to the side, I saw Seifer standing open-mouthed, as if he couldn't believe it.

Rinoa, the traitor, was helping him.

It was almost too good to be true, for him, anyway. The grin on his face was now wider than ever. He walked over to Rinoa. She just stared down at me with deep brown eyes. Scoffing in disgust, she drew the gunblade back, but couldn't control it and fell backwards.

"Let me handle it," Seifer said, reaching forward to take it from her. She smiled deviously and handed it to him. Great Hyne, what did I do to deserve this?

What did I do to have my one and only turn against me and team up with my nemesis?

He took my gunblade from her and cocked it, then handed it back to her. He walked behind her and put his arms around her, holding her hands as she held the gunblade.

"Now," he whispered in her ear, but loud enough for me to hear, "when you stab him through the heart with it, be sure to pull this trigger...if you're gonna go all out, go all out."

Rinoa nodded, and I desperately began trying to change her mind.

"Rinoa...why are you doing this? After...after everything we've been through...after everything I've told you...why are you helping him?"

Crystalline tears flooded my eyes and spilled down my pale cheeks as I watched her. She appeared to be grief-stricken, but that look quickly faded away as defiance replaced it.

"There weren't many paths for me to choose. Sometimes, there would only be one. From the limited possibilities I faced, the choices I made have brought me this far. That's why I value the path I chose...I want to hold true to the path that HAD to be taken."

My eyes widened as she quoted Irvine, one of my comrades. Hyne, please let her stop...please let her change her mind! I felt a hand grasp my left one, and I turned my head to see Seifer pulling my ring off of my finger.

"Ah, what a nice ring...thanks for the souvenir, pal. I'm sure Rinoa will love it."

"N-no... Griever..."

"That's what you call it? That's wimpy...how about, 'Seifer Almasy Jr.'? Yeah, I like that one better."

He laughed evily as he walked back over to Rinoa and slipped an arm around her waist, placing his free hand across her stomach. I could only stare blankly as the full reality of the situation hit me.

She'd slept with him, gotten pregnant, and plotted to kill me.

_Wow...what a bummer._

"Well, I think he's had enough pain. Let's be nice and put him out of his misery. What do ya say?"

Rinoa smiled sweetly up at him and nodded, then looked down at me.

The last thing I heard was my own scream of pain as the blade ripped through my broken heart. I never did feel the blade shatter my ribs, and neither did I feel the warm, salty tears from Rinoa's eyes fall onto my own tear-stained cheek. I never heard the sound of the bullet exiting the gunblade afterwards, and I never heard Rinoa whisper, 'I'm sorry, Squall,' softly as Seifer proudly led her away.

**:Notes: **

First off, I wanna say that the ENTER key is the devil. Ahem, now on with some notes...this is the first fanfic I've uploaded to and needless to say, it'll probably be the last UNLESS, of course, I get happy reviews (which I do appreciate!). I wrote this awhile back on a spur-of-the-moment deal, when I had nothing else to do. I'm thinking about maybe writing my own fanfic dealing with FFVIII 2nd Gen...but I don't know. .

Anyway, reviews are definitely welcomed (good OR bad), so please, carry on!


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